Dry your eyes.
No one can hurt you without your consent. Run. Tell. Escape. You’re a winner. No one will help you in silence. You’re your own champion. You are not alone. None of this is your fault. You did not deserve this. Keep on. You’re almost there. Just a little bit harder. Just a little bit stronger. Don’t give up. Breathe. Relax. Pray. Receive. Believe. Succeed. Persevere. Enlighten. Inspire. Release. Fly. Fly.
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Eiffel tower beams outside
Light travels through my window Buildings sitting on the grass Remind me of the world within my grasp Dreams as high as the clear blue skies Dare me to reach their distance Sitting in the light of my room I can’t hear the pain or the noise As I try to tap into my own juices I can’t imagine how it must feel to have more I have everything you could ever want for inspiration I see beauty all around me And I know how lucky it is to feel the exciting potential That I know I am realizing Zen life right inside No elements to keep me away I see sun; I feel warmth I breathe free Life is a trip a lot of the times When it’s dark the future seems unattainable But I am inside my future; it’s my present And I’m so in tune with the gifts I’ve been giving and the present I’m living I know there are only ways up from here Light travels through the gift inside The future is how we use it This is my dedication to Larry & Laurent Bourgeois. For inspiring me to find my own greatness. I saw this first video of them four years ago (in 2010) and was absolutely mesmerized like I had never been before. Who were these skinny French young men who could move their bodies to hip hop better than any American person I knew (ok, I don't know a lot of hip hop dancers, but still...)? Right.
Release fan girl. Compose yourself. Yeah, so I met them two weeks ago. And all I felt was magic. So keep reading, feel the magic, find yours... One night in the club, my friend *Christina and I totally let loose while dancing with this guy in dreads. He was wearing a red sweater. We were at Red Light, a (famous?) well-known club near Montparnasse in Paris. We killed it. We killed the music, the energy, the vibe. We had no idea who he was, but he probably came up to one of us to dance. I can’t remember who he asked first, but one of us responded, and she danced. Then he turned around and came over to me – or her – okay now! So our fun dancing battle began. We jived, we bumped, we grooved to the old '90s hip hop music. I thought my dance with him was on point. Then he turned back to Christina, and the competition was on. She killed it with him. And then he turned back to me, and we killed it, and so on. The music was loud, the place was crowded, the spirit was high, but the only thing that mattered was our dancing.
We didn’t care what we looked like. I didn’t care how I was moving. I just moved, and I know I looked good, because I was happy. I felt free. Two nights ago, I danced with Les Twins in Boston. They’re here for the Beyoncé & Jay-Z concert tonight, so they gave a workshop to all the dance aficionados out there, myself included. I was mesmerized by their talent but too shy to move (the way that I wanted to) because I felt I wasn’t as good as they are. I didn’t want to look like a fool. My mind was controlling me, so I failed to find that feeling of freedom. But when you have it, it’s bliss. It’s judgment-free. You tell yourself you look good, and you do. Or you just ignore yourself and listen to the music and it tells you you look good. I hope one day I can go back to the feeling I had that night in Paris. When I gave 1000% back to the energy I was feeling and was given. When there was no self-judgment to hold me back, but only excitement to keep propelling me forward. Freedom is Fearlessness. The workshop on Sunday was still magical, despite my shyness. I probably had all the fun in my life in those few hours that we shared with them, despite how fast the time flew. I’m so happy to have been there that the energy I have inside now just can’t be contained. And I know that there are parts in my life that are waiting for me to exercise my fearlessness, and to come into my own - especially with my writing. I need free. I need fearless. *Name changed to preserve her awesomeness. We are all capable of greatness. Practice makes perfect. Be honest with your emotions. Wear your heart on your sleeve. Don’t take yourself so seriously. There is always room for fun. Be yourself (as Laurent advised us). Put yourself in his (or anyone else's) choreography. Don’t try to do things like him (or someone else), because it won’t be the same. Everything has to come from your heart. Just feel the music. Who cares if you look ugly while dancing? Just feel it. Dancing with them isn’t easy. They are freaking fast. How the hell do they make it look so f%$uCUjhjkd! easy??? Shine. Let yourself shine. Everyone will be happier for it. “No time for be shy.” Their taste in music is as awesome as they are. The average person hears 4 counts of rhythm. They hear 12. Check out a clip from their session at the Boston Workshop below! I make my cameo appearance at about the 4:30 mark on the right side of the screen, in a gray t-shirt just trying to see what was happening, but it was really hard to make it to the center of the circle. You never know when someone’s good deed will become a pivotal moment in your life causing you to pause and reflect.
It was the week before I started my freshman year at Cornell. My parents rented a van and I tried my best to fit my entire life in it for what was supposed to be a six-hour trip. We left late in the afternoon, near the time of rush hour – against all of my father’s advice to leave earlier. We were doing fine – until of course, we got lost. By nightfall, the van began to drag very slowly. I found out to my horror that it was because it was too heavy with my belongings. Nevertheless, we continued to inch our way along the breakdown lane. The “highway,” which was really a skinny stretch of land in the middle of nowhere, was pitch black from the dearth of cars. My father eventually pulled into the driveway of someone’s home. It was the middle of the night. He got out, walked to the door, and rang the doorbell, not knowing what to expect. I saw him talking to someone who opened the door. Then a few minutes later, a senior man came out, got into his car or truck and asked us to follow him. He drove us to the nearest rest stop. We were in Utica. We had been trying to get to Ithaca. The man who answered the door didn’t answer with a gun, but instead brought blankets so that we could cover ourselves in our van. I barely slept though because I had no idea where we were. When the sun rose, the man who drove us to the rest stop came back with his wife. They brought us breakfast – as in actually paid for – my mother, father, two sisters, cousin, and me. Then, they sent us on our way. We made it to Ithaca, waaaay more than six hours after we had initially left my house. Four years later, I graduated Cornell. To my initial embarrassment, I learned that my father had kept in touch with this man and would stop by his house to visit whenever he had finished driving me to school (Dad, don’t overstay your welcome, I thought when he told me this. My father can be one of those people, for better or for worse). In my case though, it turned out to be for the better. The man who saved us, whose name I only somewhat recall, ended up sending me a $25 check after he learned that I graduated Cornell, just to say congratulations. A few years earlier, we – I – who had showed up at his door-step in the middle of the night, had just been a stranger to him. If I had been him, I probably would have given the person directions and sent them on their way – or worse, I probably would have been too scared to open my own door. But he wasn’t. And he saved my family from what could have been a harrowing experience. And four years later, he remembered me. There are really good people in this world, and whenever I get bombarded by the negative news out there, I tend to forget this. But someone out there whom you haven’t met yet, may one day become your guardian angel. And it’s the actions of these people that really make me think. Maybe one day, I’ll be someone’s guardian angel too. “Working in the way of the artist does not impede, but enhances and expresses spiritual life.” -Laurence G. Boldt in Zen & the Art of Making a Living, p. 68 ~ Doctors,
Lawyers, Teachers, Humanitarians, Painters, Poets, Artists… The talents of every one of these people serve to better all of humanity. The doctor’s hands save lives. The lawyer’s mind reasons for justice; her voice argues for the same. Teachers educate and empower the next generation. The heart of Humanitarians serves those without access. A Painter’s vision enlightens society. A Poet uses his heart, mind, and voice to write and speak the truth. Artists create everything from nothing. All of them – doctors, lawyers, teachers, humanitarians, painters, and poets – working in their different fields, using their different skills refined by their unique senses, are Artists. The Artist embodies all of them. Mothers, Fathers, Caretakers These people too, are Artists. They use creativity and improvisation to create a desired result. Parents groom, nurture and discipline their children until they are molded into the person they desire. Caretakers work with the tools they are given to help those who cannot help themselves achieve some semblance of normal living. So when Laurence G. Boldt says that “Working in the way of the artist enhances and expresses spiritual life,” he means that using one’s innate creativity to hone his/her talents and skills – like an artist does – increases one’s capacity to come in touch with one’s spirituality. Spirituality is the invisible energy that moves the soul, that sustains life, that allows all people to feel that they are part of a puzzle bigger than themselves. Spirituality is knowing that one’s life has a purpose, whether that purpose is yet understood. Understood or not, it is believing that that purpose will be discovered. Spirituality is the energy that moves all beings into a state of peace, love, understanding, and harmony with oneself and all of the natural world. It is the rock, the flow of the river, the growth of the plant, the rising of the sun, the setting of the moon. It is the seasons. It is earth, wind, fire, and rain. It is astrology. It is celestial. It is the unexplainable yet predictable. It is the ordinary and extraordinary. It is yin. It is yang. It is man and woman. It is child and father. It is Mother. It is life and death. It is hurt and forgiveness. It is balance. That’s what Spirituality is…Balance. The Artist is he who balances the evils of the present world by sharing her vision of a brighter world through her power to transform ugly into beautiful, darkness into clarity. The Artist is the prophet, who is not deterred by present obstacles, who charts a path on the road not taken, who aspires amongst doubters, who knows in disbelief. The Artist is the Spiritual, the Spirit of Man. So that is why working in the way of the Artist enhances and expresses spiritual life. It enhances and expresses man’s knowledge of himself and all things surrounding him. I am working in the way of the Artist. |
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